Enlightened Aria
by Sokai
Summary: The impossible has finally happened . . . the brightest star has fallen, and there doesn't seem to be a thing any of them can do about it . . . or is there? /BASED UPON ACT 14: "Usagi ga Yōma ni?", or "Usagi is Turning into a Youma?"\


**Enlightened Aria**

**By: Sokai**

**Disclaimer:** It is sad, but very true. I, Sokai, do not claim ownership to the wonderfully great Takeuchi Naoko and Toei produced tokusatsu television series, "Pretty Guardian Sailormoon," which is a part of Takeuchi-sama's "Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon" metaseries. Nor do I claim to own any of her brilliant characters. However, I can/do claim to own this specific plot/storyline, as well as any/all possible original characters featured therein.

Note: _Man, oh man. I can't tell you how long I'd been "secretly" wanting to do this. That is, to finally write another PGSM fic, period, in addition to one based upon Act 14, which is apparently a lot of fellow fans' favorite. You know, when Usagi had almost been turned into a youma, courtesy of Kunzite. Yeah, well, after many, many, MANY people's coaxing for me to write something based upon that specific episode, in addition to finally coming up with something I can readily live with, here I am, and here it is. LoL_

_I can't promise I'll finish this, or Hell, if even what I'd taken care to formulate and craft in a way that it'd make a bit of sense WILL as time goes on, but for now, here is the intro. Enjoy!_

_Oh! Forgot to mention a few things of (sort of key) note to keep in mind while reading the whole of this story: Yes, the Senshi are, in my "new world" for them, still aware that Venus is apparently the Princess, as revealed to them a few acts prior to 14. However, everything which could/would have occurred AFTER act 14 and beyond is effectively eradicated from THIS "new world" I've crafted, as one, it doesn't honestly apply (and didn't even happen yet, so how could it? LoL), and two, it would cease to allow the plot I've concocted to work. So, please, if alternate reality stories, or ones which don't readily acknowledge every last detail established within whatever canon series you're into isn't your thing, please don't bother reading this tale . . . because that's how I roll. LoL I like to shake sh.t up. HeHe_

_ANYWAY! Read on!_

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_This story/chapter was created/written in May 2010.

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**Act 1**

"_Awaken, Sailormoon! Become my follower, and serve the Great Evil!"_

This wasn't really happening.

It wasn't even _reality_.

It _couldn't_ be.

After all, she had _sworn_ that she wouldn't let it come to pass . . . but it had.

For there she was, there all _three_ of them were, undeniably and regrettably face to face with their newfound foe . . . their dearest friend, _Tsukino Usagi_. . . .

Mizuno Ami, as the future doctor and admittedly most sagacious of the Guardian Senshi quartet, had tried her absolute best to find a definitive way to free the cheerful and sweet girl of the frightening curse that the horrid and newfound Shitennou, Kunzite, had ruthlessly placed upon her during a previous solo battle.

However, each method attempted had been to no avail.

_If only I had been there when it'd __truly__ mattered . . . or were __stronger__, even . . . then Usagi-chan wouldn't . . . wouldn't_, Ami, or as she currently was, Sailormercury thought with profound morose, her heart aching even further as she and her comrades, Hino Rei and Kino Makoto, who were also known as Sailors Mars and Jupiter, each gazed upon the newly transformed Usagi with tear-filled eyes.

It was nearly impossible to recognize the former heroine, and if the others had not previously been there to witness her God forsaken metamorphosis, each of them quite possibly would have been none the wiser. Her shimmering, raven colored hair. . . was now suddenly a stark _white_ in contrast, and no longer fashioned within the uniquely styled pigtails the warmhearted girl would traditionally keep them in.

Having formerly reached only slightly past the middle of her slim back, Usagi's free flowing, eerily ivory locks now trickled all the way down to just past her strong shins, where the very ends were messily fastened, almost tauntingly, as each remaining Sailor Senshi began to realize, with a few ebony strands of Kunzite's _own_ hair. . . .

Sailormercury felt as though she was about to faint in that moment, upon slowly looking towards the top of Usagi's head . . . and saw a white pair of pointed, canine-like ears, which disturbingly seemed to replace her once human duo.

The Senshi of Water could then hear the equally emotional Sailormars let out a sharp sob at her side just then, and gazed upon her momentarily out of concern, before following her widened stare towards their captured comrade's overall appearance.

It was then that Sailormercury realized that the lavish, white gown the menacing and final Shitennou had curiously adorned Usagi within prior to each girl's arrival had vanished, as well . . . leaving the petite sized teenager's now sickeningly pale body scantily clad within nothing but what appeared to be flimsy pieces of wolf's fur. The sight honestly made all three Senshi immediately blush as a result, despite the otherwise upsetting circumstances, seeing their lost companion so physically exposed for the first time, the way the miniscule, white colored fur barely sheltered the girl's modestly sized chest and nether region.

In fact, the only parts of Usagi which seemed to possess the most protection were both of her tiny arms and legs, courtesy of the ivory hued glovettes and legwarmer-like coverings, which were also seemingly made of the same sort of fur . . . and perhaps her backside, as well, as a large and fluffy, white tinted tail had in that moment suddenly curled itself at her right side.

Perhaps the most startling display to behold for the Sailor Senshi trio, in spite of the other drastic alterations done to their former leader, was Usagi's _face_. Once so bright, flawless and always with a broad smile upon it, it was now abnormally riddled with facial markings consisting of two, thick black lines, which trailed down the both of her cheeks before slightly curling at the very ends. Even her soft brown eyes, so traditionally filled with a warm brilliance, were now dreadfully _lackluster_ and dark golden, with a faint purple sheen around the edges, in addition to what appeared to be heavy eyeliner outlining each.

"Usagi-chan. . . ." Sailormercury softly murmured within furthered disbelief, too stunned to lift herself from off of the cold, earthy ground of the dank cave she'd been previously fighting Kunzite within alone, prior to her companions' timely arrival.

Truth be told, she no longer felt capable of doing _anything_, let alone picking herself up, now that her first, and admittedly most _treasured_ friend was apparently lost to her.

She had _failed_.

They _all_ had. . . .

_No . . . I can't give up yet! If there's even a remote chance that traces of our Usagi-chan still remains, then I have to keep going!_ the blue haired senshi thought within slowly renewing resolution, which seemed to somehow resonate with Sailormars and Sailorjupiter, for she'd then noticed that they, too, suddenly held determined expressions upon their otherwise teary-eyed and dirtied visages.

The first to wearily rise to her feet, Sailormercury did her very best to swallow down her mounting despair, as she sobbingly pleaded with the uncharacteristically stoic looking Usagi, "U . . . Usagi-chan, _please!_ I _refuse_ to believe that you're completely gone, and that Kunzite's evil has won! _Fight_ it, Usagi-chan! _Fight_ it!"

". . . . Do not refer to me by that _despicable_ name," the former Senshi of Love and Justice coldly responded, narrowing her unnaturally colored eyes at the now taken aback Sailor Senshi trio. "My _new_ name is now '_Ōkami_.' Your 'Usagi-chan' is _dead_ . . . as _you_ three soon will be, as well. . . ."

Kunzite, who had been silently observing the rather amusing display from his place at the makeshift altar he had previously erected, and placed his newfound thrall upon prior to her completed transformation, softly began to chuckle with delight before moving to the aptly named 'Ōkami's' side.

"Hm, hm, hm . . . the apple does not fall far from the tree, it seems," he remarked proudly and with a slightly knowing air, privately reflecting upon his having uttered those very same words once he, too, had gone through his own metamorphosis, to the young man he was now aware of being the vaguely troublesome Tuxedo Kamen.

"_Bastard!_ You'll _pay_ for what you've done to Usagi!" Sailorjupiter violently spat, her strong fists clenched tightly and body shaking with unbridled rage toward the ominous man. She then shared a fleeting glance toward a silent, although visibly irate Sailormars, before the two suddenly charged towards the continually undaunted Kunzite within a flurry of various cartwheels and flips with the intention of commencing hand to hand combat.

"Rei-chan! Mako-chan! _Don't!_" Sailormercury fruitlessly cried out to her remaining companions with startled brown eyes, as a sudden sensation of foreboding began to wash over her. Her plea came too late, however, as the smallest Sailor Senshi regrettably watched each of her friends get brutally knocked down . . . by Usagi, herself.

Neither Sailorjupiter, nor Sailormars had ever reached Kunzite, before Usagi, or _Ōkami_ had immediately placed herself directly in front of her 'creator' with a profound swiftness the likes of which any one of them had ever seen before. Without a word or even a sound, the wolf-like girl quickly brought down her left, sharply clawed hand towards an extremely surprised Sailorjupiter, and succeeded in leaving a rather large and deep scratch within her left arm.

Ōkami then, without hesitation, or even the slightest bit of remorse at the newfound sight of the crumpled, gravely injured Senshi of Thunder and Courage's form, promptly turned her attention onto the raven haired Fire Mistress and delivered a near bone shattering roundhouse kick to her back, with her equally razor-like and bare foot.

"_Girls!"_ Sailormercury exclaimed in horror, immediately rushing to her fallen comrades' sides and nearly choked upon her renewed tears at the ghastly sight of Sailormars's wound. The girl's suddenly and partially exposed back now sickeningly mirrored that of Sailorjupiter's _own_ gash upon her arm, as the two, five-lined scratch marks were now freely trickling with blood at a slightly alarming rate.

"Rei-chan, hang _on!_ Oh, _Mako-chan!"_ the light blue haired senshi sobbed through blurry eyes, tentatively reaching out within attempts to tend to each groaning girls' terrible wound. The renewed sound of Kunzite's vile laughter made her blood run cold, causing her to swiftly lift her head up and glare daggers straight into his soul . . . that is, assuming that he even possessed one.

However, it was the sight of the former Usagi simply _standing_ there, next to him, and peering down upon her erstwhile compatriots with an admittedly chilling evenness painted upon her deathly pale face which had caused Sailormercury to reach her limit. ". . . . U . . . _Usagi-chan!_ How could you do such a thing to your own _friends?_ D-Don't you remember _any_ of us? _Luna?_ _Osaka-san?_ Your _family?_ We --"

"-- I remember all of you quite perfectly, _Sailormercury_ . . . _Sailormars_ . . . and _Sailorjupiter_," Ōkami calmly interrupted, her new fangs glinting savagely at the remorseful girl, even within the general darkness of the cave. She then slowly folded her visibly strong arms across her mostly bare chest, before her honestly unreadable facial expression suddenly turned sinister. "And I intend on eliminating each and every _one_ of you, as tribute to my _new_ ally, the '_Great Evil!_'"

"Hm, hm, hm! I think I'm going to _enjoy_ having my very own Sailor Senshi!" Kunzite remarked with delicious triumph, before moving directly behind a still scowling Ōkami and draped his right arm across her front. The remaining Sailor Senshi watched within intermingled dismay and disgust, as the strongest Shitennou's gloved hand then began to perversely trace repeated circles around the magenta hued tattoo which was in between Ōkami's collarbones . . . the _same_ marking as the v-shaped sort of sigil held upon the middle of the golden circlet upon Kunzite's head. ". . . . I just may one day decide to collect the whole _set!_"

"_No!"_ suddenly cried a newfound, disembodied and male sounding voice from behind the formerly gloating Dark General. Sailors Mercury, Mars and Jupiter all gasped within surprise at the unexpected sound, while Kunzite, and even _Ōkami_, merely sighed heavily with a knowing air.

The long haired Shitennou, sword already unsheathed after moving away from his new thrall, turned around just in time to block the would be attack from the visibly livid Tuxedo Kamen, who'd just then appeared onto the scene.

"_Tuxedo Kamen!"_ all three Sailor Senshi gasped within unison, mixed feelings of his sudden, admittedly too late arrival coursing through them as they each watched the struggle between their apparently mutual enemy and himself unfold before them.

He was, after all, someone the girls' enchanted feline mentor, Luna, had quite often warned them to stay away from and be wary of . . . much to specifically _Usagi's_ chagrin. However, now that he was there, perhaps his mere presence would somehow be enough to break Kunzite's hold upon the once jovial girl, and return her to her still hopeful friends.

"You cannot stop me," Kunzite spoke with a broad smirk towards the greatly struggling Tuxedo Kamen, who was currently doing his best to hold the skilled swordsman's counterattack at bay with his slender black cane.

"It seems like '_Shin'_ is completely gone," the tuxedo wearing young man hissed in between grunts, evidently sharing a verbal exchange with the Shitennou that no one except the two men seemed to be privy to.

This remark only seemed to amuse Kunzite all the more, for he let out a soft chuckle, before suddenly applying more force into his sword in order to break through Tuxedo Kamen's defenses.

"He never existed in the _first_ place!" he spat with a detected air of repugnance, gritting his teeth as he continued to bear down upon his weakening foe. He curiously then began to smile softly at a now perplexed Tuxedo Kamen, before tactfully adding, ". . . . And now, neither does your precious _Sailormoon!_"

With widened eyes in disbelief, the tall young thief immediately lost his focus the moment Kunzite had uttered those harsh words, causing him to then gaze upon the young heroine he'd secretly known to be Tsukino Usagi for quite some time now. He felt his limbs grow numb and his heart being repeatedly stabbed as his brown eyes peered into the uncharacteristically cruel, golden hued orbs of the once kind and gentle girl.

If he hadn't already been aware of the overall, dire situation, he'd have honestly never known that the white haired, humanoid sort of young woman was _indeed_ Sailormoon . . . or rather, _used_ to be.

_I'm too late. . . . I'd tried my best to get here as fast as Sailormercury had through the use of her powers, but. . . ._ Tuxedo Kamen's thoughts trailed off within utter desolation, his senses overflowing with immense heartache as he continued to stare deplorably toward the newly transformed Usagi, who merely peered back at him with surprising apathy etched upon her pale countenance.

Seizing the other man's bewilderment as the perfect opportunity to make his final move, Kunzite abruptly shoved Tuxedo Kamen away from him a moment, before expertly bringing down his sword upon his right forearm and successfully sliced it open.

"_Argh!"_ the black clothed man groaned in agony, immediately hunching over and cupping his profusely stinging wound. Despite generally viewing the young man as their fellow enemy, the three Sailor Senshi could not help but to unanimously cry out in alarm for him, as Sailors Jupiter and Mars's own abrasions continued to pulsate with excruciating pain, themselves.

_Ōkami_, on the other hand, did not even flinch at the sight, and merely maintained her increasingly stoic stance at her place by Kunzite's side. . . .

_Not even witnessing Tuxedo Kamen being harmed has succeeded in bringing forth any sort of concerned emotion within Usagi-chan, as it usually would_, Sailormercury silently reflected within notable observation, feeling her heart breaking even further at the realization. _Are . . . Are we truly too late in saving our dear friend? Is Usagi-chan . . . really gone from us for good?_

"Hmm . . . I think we've caused enough mayhem for now, wouldn't you agree, Ōkami-_chan?_" Kunzite gaily asked the ivory haired young woman next to him, purposefully adding the familiarized honorific to her newfound name in order to inflict further misery upon the Sailor Senshis' unanimous defeat. "We'll come back another time to play with all of them some more. . . ."

Ōkami, who had merely been staring down the now injured Tuxedo Kamen within haunting silence for the last several minutes, slowly turned her attention onto her superior and suddenly gave a calm, yet chilling sort of smile toward him . . . one which appeared almost mixed with gut wrenching _affection_.

"Of course, Kunzite-sama," she respectfully replied with a slight bow of her snow white colored head, before willingly moving closer to the visibly satisfied Shitennou.

None of the Sailor Senshi, and especially not Tuxedo Kamen could believe their ears, or _eyes_, at that . . . however, there Usagi was, about to depart, and _joyfully_, even, with the enemy. It was all too much for any of them to bear. . . .

"Usagi-chan, _wait!_ D --!" Sailormercury called out through her tears, the only one on the side of good left uninjured, and therefore the only one currently capable of swiftly rushing toward the retreating Usagi. However, her efforts were fruitless, as by the time she had managed to take a mere step forward, both servants for the Dark Kingdom were already gone, having vanished within a grand flourish of Kunzite's gold speckled cape.

And then suddenly, silence was eerily upon the four remaining individuals within the dreary, lonely cave, its atmosphere effortlessly mimicking the raw emotions each one of them unanimously felt in that moment. Tuxedo Kamen tiredly perched himself against the now useless altar in defeat, at the same time that an emotionally fragile Sailormercury promptly fell to her knees in mourning, and Sailors Mars and Jupiter slowly dragged their tender bodies closer to her in futile comfort.

". . . . Usagi-chan," she whispered to herself in between continued sobs, bowing her blue colored head a moment, before burying it into her gloved and dirtied hands.

"W . . . What will we do now?" Sailorjupiter asked through gritted teeth as the pain within her still bleeding arm continued, her traditionally strong voice now sounding broken and forlorn. No one ever gave the tall brunette any sort of response, however, as the reality of the situation was still far too surreal for any of them to comprehend, let alone find an active solution to.

The only thing any one of them currently knew for _certain_ was that Usagi was _gone_ . . . and they were not entirely positive upon whether or not they would be able to get her back. . . .

**-- End of Act 1**

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(A.N. Wahh, I did it. LoL After close to a year of "fans" harping on me to get'er done, I at last have. Even though this one wasn't entirely my fave, I'm still fairly excited to continue on with this tale . . . even though I really, REALLY shouldn't, considering the general life responsibilities I've to tend to, especially lately, in addition to my other fics AND book I'm trying to write, at that. o_O Sighhhh. . . . My Muse really DOES love to torture me by giving me too MUCH inspiration sometimes. Meh. LoL**

**At any rate, here it is, Act 1! Know what I realized while writing this? How pretty useless Tuxedo Kamen really is. LoL I mean, I've always felt that throughout the years, no matter WHICH incarnation of the series we're dealing with, here. LoL But I mean, in THIS case, you show up AFTER Usagi thankfully managed to save HERSELF from KunKun's would-be spell? And AFTER Ami, Mako, and Rei all got a beat down from him, to boot? It's like he was hanging out in the wings, eating a burger or something, before he decided to finally pop out of the shadows. Yeesh. LoL So, in THIS case, that's why I'd decided to 'forgive' him by giving him the excuse that it was merely because he's powerless and couldn't honestly get to wherever the Hell KunKun took Usagi at the same speed that Ami, and then later, Mako and Rei had. Ah, useless, useless TK. . . . LoL Still thoroughly enjoy(ed) his live action incarnation better than any other, though. HeHe And besides, re-watching that episode again made me focus on the "Where the Hell were YOU two the whole time, as well?" for Mako and Rei. LoL It's like, REALLY? You spent nearly a day and change staring at your sacred fire, while YOU just ran around town, and the BOTH of you didn't come up with ANYTHING? No wonder Ami was extra stressed out. :p**

**Anyway! And yeah, I know I'd changed Usagi's "youma-do," so to speak, from that God awful returned wolf getup that that random chick got turned into, herself in Act 13. But, hey! At least I still kept up with the wolf theme, eh? LoL Including giving her a youma name to further reflect that; yay. LoL Pretty interesting, though, that they'd made that youma "chick" wolfie-ish, since, as it's to my understanding, anyway, wolves aren't really viewed the same way they might be over here in the states. *Shrugs* Ah, well. Usagi's still a hottie youma now, regardless. LoL I'll probably draw her, as I see her in my head in this form, a little later on, as well, so look out for that, if ya want. But it probably won't be until after my wedding, most likely . . . busy, busy!**

**Um . . . yeah, I guess that's it! I know it seemed primarily Ami-thought focused and all, but that was on purpose since, Hell, it WAS primarily Ami-thought focused, honestly, so it works out. LoL But, yeah! Please to be staying tuned for the much much better Act 2 – In my opinion, anyway – where things unravel a bit more, yay! LoL)**


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